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Sunday Speculation: Protest Edition

So, there I was driving home from work on Saturday and thinking about what to write for this post when the question streaked across my mind:

If young librarians are in protest, what are our demands?

I blanked for a moment. What are the demands?

Jobs? That’s a tricky demand. Websites like ALA Joblist, LISjobs, and others are full of job listings. There are jobs out there. Whether the job is near where people want to be is another factor. For all the emo consternation that is posted like a teenage poetry contest, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone write, “And I’m willing to move!” Perhaps it is something that people are leaving out, somehow implied in their pleas for any kind of work; perhaps it is not written because some graduates want the job where their families, friends, and familiar surroundings are. For the former, I wish you good luck; for the latter, well, I’m not sure what to say. It’s somewhere between “stick it out and hope for the best” and “if you want to get going on your career now, you may have to make some short term compromises”.

If there was a good demand relating to jobs to pose to the older generation of librarians, it would be in the form of a question: where have all the lost jobs gone? Budget cuts? Attrition? Smaller staffing requirements? Follow-up: what is the job outlook for the field in five years? Because I don’t have the longevity or experience in the field to get a feeling for that and I’m curious as to what the speculation might be. This is not a direct attempt to refute the ‘graying profession’ business or a new yoke to hang on the necks of library leadership. (We’d have to find a neck first, but more on that later.) I’d just like an objective re-evaluation.

Better library graduate programs? I have yet to see any specifics other than “more harder”. There is no shortage of what people dislike about the programs, what classes and topics they think are a waste of time, and there is certainly no lack of contempt for some library programs out there. “I thought it should be more challenging” goes the refrain. How exactly? What was the expectation? We aren’t assembling nuclear reactors here, people. It’s a library.

If there was a good argument for making the program more challenging, I’d say that it should have aspects of a Masters in Public Administration (because it is) and a Masters in Business Administration (because it is that too). As a public librarian, one of my most common questions is how to cut and paste on the computer. I didn’t need an MLS to show someone how to do that. What I could have used is a degree that had distinctive coursework in personnel management, funding and budgeting, public policy, and operations management (like the MPA and MBA programs have, not a unit within a management course). I liked the graduate program at Clarion; I felt it was interesting and challenging in terms of library science theory and history. But in hindsight, rather than taking a Literature of the World course (or whatever it was called), I could have used one of those aforementioned courses. I can get a passing familiarity with literature (world or otherwise) on my own; I could have really used some personnel management courses rather than learning it on the job.

In presenting a demand to the older generations of librarians, I would ask that they look to reformulate the programs to represent the current and emerging needs of librarianship. This goes directly back to the importance of a job outlook; what are the skills that those future jobs will require? And really take a hard look at the current class offerings at ALA accredited schools. (I don’t know much of anything when it comes to ALA accreditation but you may want to revisit it as something that gives a mark of excellence. It’s getting disparaged right now.)

Better leadership? I think it’s a legitimate albeit nebulous demand. The current bevy of leaders don’t stand out in the same way business leaders stand out. I can name a dozen or so business leaders off the top of my head; I’d have to think carefully as I listed an equal amount of people I considered to be leaders within the librarian profession. With the breadth of the field, even the term ‘leader’ would be a bit subjective. Are they are a leader because they have created successful libraries? Successful programs? Successful technological integration or implementation? Successful advocates for literacy and reading? Successful thinkers and library science philosophers? Even in having a number of people who display strengths in important aspects of the field, I can’t think of anyone who transcends that to the whole profession. (I have a couple of people in mind, but I’d rather not make replies about my personal choices.)

It has been touched upon in comments in other places (the kind that I can’t remember exactly where thus thwarting specific linking), but there have been comments about a lack of library leadership being cultivated within the program. And before Pete Bromberg drives over and throws a brick through my window, I’m not forgetting about the ALA Emerging Leaders program. That’s a specific action being taken by the national organization; I know New Jersey has its own variation of the program. Perhaps my question might seem indelicate, but what else is there? Is that the only option? Could there be other ways to mentor and mold the next generation of leaders within the profession? Leadership is a tricky quality; some come by it naturally and other can be trained into it. It’s a hard question, most certainly.

ALA reformation? It is a common theme that gets played out: bloated, slow, impractical, imprecise. Since I’m not an ALA member, I have to go on what I’ve been told by ALA members. But on this point, I have questions for my fellow young librarians. How is it slow? How is it bloated? How is it not meeting your expectations or needs? What should it be doing? What is getting lost in the frustrations and anger at the organization are the details, the specifics as to how they feel it is not working. What is also getting missed is that this is a chance to assert your beliefs and to work to make the changes you want to see happen. ALA is not a country club where you can hold your nose up at joining until they move the tees on the third hole for a better drive. If you want to move the damn tees, you are going to have to join and do it from the inside.

In addressing the older librarians, what should the organization you want to leave for us look like? How is it positioned to take on the challenges of the next five, ten, or twenty years? How will it reflect your influence but be a natural segue for the next generation coming through? What is the appeal, the purpose, the ongoing underlying reason for young librarians like myself to join up? On another note, relating to Council business: how do resolutions on Wikileaks, the two ongoing wars, torture, marriage equality, or the genocide in Sudan help the profession? How do these resolutions create jobs, secure funding, improve library appearance or awareness in society, or otherwise advocate for the library? Simply speaking, how does it put food on the table for both employed and unemployed librarians around the country? I realize that the argument for these resolutions are based in principles, but in this financial and employment climate (and to steal a line from the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign), it’s the economy, stupid.

I’m sure there are things that I’m missing in terms of demands and questions, whether it from my fellow young librarians or for the older generation. I realize that my post is full of questions, but I comfortable with that since I feel that I’m asking the right questions. Rather than giving in to spouting out complaints, I’d like to get to the heart of the matter. I’m looking forward to reading some answers.

39 thoughts on “Sunday Speculation: Protest Edition”

I enjoy reading your blog, and in recent weeks, I have enjoyed responding to your posts. However, I guess this post was not written for people in the field like me because you’re still defining a group of people by age and/or generation. I am a new (not young) librarian that belongs (by the numbers) among the older generation. But I’m not an older generation librarian. My thoughts and perspective are more in line with the younger, new generation of librarians. So where does a newly minted, 49-year-old cataloger, who has only been working in libraries for 7 years, fit into this scheme? Are there only two camps?

Discussions leading from any assumptions/ conclusions / generalizations based on age are ones I prefer not to engage in, as in Real Life I don’t see distinctions on ability, talent, motivation, etc based on age.

So, to say “identify with one” when I find the categories themselves faulty would serve no purpose, other than to satisfy those who do think that year of birth matters.

I’m not defining a group of people by their age. The terms ‘older’ and ‘younger’ can have more meaning than simply age. A person could graduate with an MLS at the age of 105 and consider themselves to be a ‘new’ or ‘young’ librarian; likewise, they could graduate at 23, work in the field for 10 years, and consider themselves to be an ‘older generation’ of librarian. I’m not defining what constitutes an ‘younger’ or ‘older’ librarian at all (if anything, I learned that from people and the term “senior” when I started a “Wii for Seniors” program. Some people love the term, others loathe it.)

I’m sorry you see it that way because that’s not how I meant it. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t jump to a conclusion without asking. I committed a gaffe last week and I owed up to it when people put it before me. If I’m unclear, I’ll try to illuminate.

My question for Bonnie still stands. Do you think I left out a third camp?

As I said, I answered below, but in the meantime you did explain more fully what you meant–thank you. Hmmmm…a third camp? Maybe. Although I’d have to give some thought as to how that would factor in here.

By the way, I realize that this is exactly the type of response you didn’t want. I’m sure others will get to the heart of the matter but for me this is a critical point. I’m thinking I need to start my own blog called The Multigenerational Librarian because that’s exactly what I feel like! And my post was not a complaint so much as a genuine question that I believe needs to be asked.

I would take that first demand of “better jobs” and change it to “better career planning.” I would like to see career counselors specifically devoted to LIS in schools. Our career counselor at Pratt was for the entire school (graduate and undergraduate) and really didn’t have the pulse on what was going on in our field – thus giving bad advice to the (few) students that used her services. I want to see all schools require capstone projects/theses/web portfolios. This should be a requirement of accreditation/re-accreditation. We need to prepare students for publication writing and speaking engagements, and have a place for them to show off their awesome school projects while they look for that first job. I did mine (linked above) in three or so hours on a slow day at work, so don’t go telling me it’s time consuming or difficult. I want to see better partnerships with the ALA and its student chapters, perhaps having local division/roundtable members (RUSA, ACRL, etc.) act as ambassadors to the student chapter. (We tried to do this at Pratt but it never got off the ground.)

In terms of LIS education, I agree with you on the combo MLIS/MPA – which you should know since I am an advocate for it. I’d like to see required courses in professional writing (I had one, though not required), a workshop in public speaker, and stronger assessment in tech skills. (I discuss a possible idea over in the comments of the latest post from Closed Stacks.)

Finally, and borrowing from Closed Stacks, we should not be afraid from dissuading people from this profession if they are clearly not cut out for it. The truth hurts, but lies hurt more.

“I want to see better partnerships with the ALA and its student chapters, perhaps having local division/roundtable members (RUSA, ACRL, etc.) act as ambassadors to the student chapter. (We tried to do this at Pratt but it never got off the ground.)”

I’m on a couple divisional membership committees (for ACRL and LITA) and one of goals for both has been establishing stronger contacts with library schools to do programs, recruiting, advertising of useful services, etc. We’ve encountered unexpected resistance from the schools themselves, though, who don’t want to step on the toes of their official ALA representatives by having additional representatives for each division.

As student association president, I also organized a Federal Library Job Panel with government/military librarians from all over the US with experience on hiring committees while I was still in library school and asked my government docs professor, who I’d had the previous semester, to consider forwarding the panel announcement to her class. She never even acknowledged my e-mail.

For this particular issue, at least, I think we need to point fingers at the library schools rather than ALA.

And their leadership. I don’t see the deans or profs advocating for ALA, nor do I see some of the student leadership. (I could go on a rant about how my student chapter appears to have totally fallen apart, but I won’t.)

Last comment, I PROMISE, but I forgot to mention two key points in my first comment re: career counseling/planning…

1) Do library schools deans, alumni, etc. talk about taking jobs outside of the library? For example, working for a vendor. Amongst my circle, I am one of three MLS’ers who work for a vendor – I work at JSTOR, one friend works at Alexander Street Press, and one works at ProQuest. We all use aspects of our MLS every day. It’s not selling out to Satan.

2) It’s also time for schools to push conference attendance more. This doesn’t just have to be dedicated funding for students to attend, but can include moving course offerings and study abroad programs so as not to conflict with the Big Three (ALA, SLA, ASIST). I’m all for seeing the world, but it’s more important to see your professional peers (and learn about your home office). We had to turn students away from our ALA essay contest because the timing of Annual conflicted with one of our abroad programs.

I don’t know where I fit in, and I didn’t think you were addressing me at all, which is the main problem I had with your post and why I felt I couldn’t respond directly to the issues. I may be mistaken, but I didn’t see the word “new” in your post–only “young”, but I didn’t go back and check myself on that. In your last paragraph you stated, “I’m sure there are things that I’m missing in terms of demands and questions, whether it from my fellow young librarians or for the older generation.” I didn’t see myself in either of those two camps.

I guess I consider myself a “new” librarian without regard to age. So my question to you is how do you view someone who is “older” but recently educated and new to the profession? When you say “young” do you really mean “new” or do you believe that actual age does make a difference? I’m not saying one viewpoint is right or wrong, I’m just curious.

Actual age is not a factor in this. I’ve stepped in that bear trap before and I care not to revisit it. When I wrote the post, I was thinking of professional tenure, but I’m open to redefinition. Since you see yourself in the ‘middle child’ sort of spot, what do you see are the issues or questions to address or ask?

I appreciate you taking the time to address the side issue that I raised. Now that we have that technicality out of the way, I can say that I think the issues and questions that you raised are excellent! However, I do see that my perspective falls somewhere in the middle.

With regard to jobs–I would love to get the job of my dreams right out of school! Who wouldn’t? But I don’t feel any sense of entitlement, and I don’t feel that I have the right to demand anything. I will feel fortunate when (if?) that perfect job opportunity comes along. Maybe that’s my age talking?

With regard to library school–I just spent two years working full time, attending school online full time, and I have three kids and lots of responsibilities–I didn’t necessarily want an academically rigorous program. I wanted to get ‘er done and get my degree because right now that’s the ticket to advancement. That said, I wholeheartedly agree that perhaps a library science graduate degree should be attached to some other degree–either public administration, as you said, or as a certificate program in combination with another graduate degree program–English, Philosophy, History, etc.–so that the requirement of some academic libraries of having a “subject” masters is fulfilled at the same time as achieving the necessary credentials for librarianship.

With regard to leadership, maybe that’s a role well-suited for the middle children. We bring a certain amount of life experience to the table along with a fresh perspective. We have no baggage and we have new ideas and perhaps a certain credibility that age sometimes brings. Maybe we’re ready to lead?

As far as ALA, I don’t know enough about the organization to weigh in on that. I belong to ALA, as well as ACRL, PaLA, and round tables and divisions within those groups. I have used the mentoring program offered by my local ACRL chapter. I have volunteered to help with conferences, etc. I’ve tried to make good use of the networking and professional development opportunities made available through those organizations. I’m not sure at this point what more I should be expecting of them. I hope to learn more as I go along.

I don’t know if this answers your question or not. I know I certainly don’t have all the answers, either. But I do feel as if I have a voice that might be lost as a middle child. “Young” (and in this case I do mean age) librarians have an advantage in that they have an entire career ahead of them and plenty of time to weigh in and be heard. The older librarians who have been at this for a long time have retirement to look forward to and the knowledge that they did make a difference. I don’t have a whole career ahead of me, and I don’t have an indefinite amount of time to find a place for myself, but I’m not ready for retirement either. That said, I feel fortunate to have found this profession even if it is a bit late. I have met wonderful people from every age group, and I have received guidance from the young and the mature. Perhaps those of us who are new–young and older–are all part of the “rising generation” of librarians?

As a pushing 40, 8 year old librarian, I think this is one of the best posts I’ve read in a long time.

MPA/MBA–yes!!

Talk about what other kinds of jobs (vendors, etc.)–yes!!

As I shop PhD programs right now, I wonder where the leaders in our field will be, because it seems as if all the PhD students in LIS programs I’ve researched are studying Data Mining.

I think there should be more discussion (classes?) about customer service. Because when we are helping people figure out how to cut and paste, that’s what we are offering. And as “reference librarians” that is the heart of what we do. It’s ALL readers advisory. It’s all customer service. I had a 7 year “externship” with Big Box Books prior to library school, so I think that helped me, but to some people it’s a big surprise that our job entails telling people what time it is, where the bathroom is, and telling them, no, I will not help you find a date on Match.com.

Conferences? YES!! Until the economy went bust, my library paid for us to go to conferences. Now if we want to go on our own dime (I went to Chicago two summers ago and stayed with friends) we still get “administrative time.” I find it ABHORRENT that people are told they have to take vacation time to get continuing education.

ALA? Tier level dues would be nice. It breaks me financially to belong to both PLA and ALSC, but I want to have a voice…I will be grateful when I can go back to student rates.

Good job, Andy, and I’ll be reading with interest to see what other folks have to say.

How about defining “young librarian” as one in the profession less than five years? That’s how SLA defines members of their new professionals group, and the cutoff for work experience for ALA Emerging Leaders.

To the person who suggested tiered membership dues for ALA – RIGHT ON. SLA does this, it’s high time other orgs followed suit.

I’m amazed by how many people are caught up in Andy’s use of language rather than the substantive issues he’s raising, and I’m drawn back to my concerns about obstructionist, recalcitrant history-focused librarians.

Andy, an MLS/MPA would be ideal, in my experience — all the MPA programs I’ve investigated have courses that cover the content and issues for which my MLS did not prepare me well. I don’t have much more to say, there — I think you hit it precisely. We can learn about literature and information sources on the job. Learning about personnel management and budgeting on the job actively harms our institutions if we don’t learn it quickly and cleanly.

And I’m unconvinced that the Emerging Leaders program is the answer to our leadership problem; I know of several very good emerging leaders in libraries who despised the Emerging Leaders program as wasteful of their time and effort. Not a good sign. (Also not a universally held opinion, but one that gives me pause.) What I wish we had more of was mentoring between successful leaders in our profession and librarians who want to advance (and I don’t care if they’re “young”, “new”, or simply “looking for a change”). We can learn more from one well-matched mentor than six months of courses that don’t hit the mark for us, so that personal touch is something I think we can’t ignore.

Which is also where I struggle with ALA. Too big. Too complex. Too red-tape-y. No sense of welcome to me as an individual, and no way for me to find a way into the organization so I can connect with like individuals. As a result, I’ve gravitated elsewhere, and have had far better luck with smaller conferences and regional or topical organizations. I would recommend the same to others who are looking for a community of practice or a place to begin advocacy work for our profession.

Thank you for your comments, Jenica. I do think a bit of an overhaul of the MLS towards the MPA is a reasonable and actionable step in revising the curriculum of the former. While I wouldn’t go into details, I could tell which of my Clarion professors had the administrative experience and which had not when they talked about library management. When it is obvious, there should be something done about it.

I don’t really know too much about the Emerging Leaders program. From what has been shared, I wouldn’t say it should be the *only* solution to a leadership mentoring and cultivation. It certainly is better than the alternative and you are not going to have 100% satisfaction out of it considering the number of variables involved in it.

It shouldn’t go without saying that the mentoring aspect you talk about wouldn’t have its own issues. (Finding people who will mentor, people to be mentored, potential personality and philosophy clashes, etc.) Then you are in the same fix as before if the people who work with the one-on-one program decide to opt out of organizational leadership.

In terms of the ALA, this is where the orderly nature of librarianship runs amok. Everything in its place and everything has a rule to its placement. It’s like the Architect from the Matrix, based on rules, logic, and organization mathematics. It’s a reaction to the messiness of a volunteer run organization. You want to take out the chances that some nutjob can do harm to the organization and basically you end up reducing the capabilities of the rest of the membership.

Personally, having been involved in volunteer organizations, adding red tape helps no one. The urge to prevent one action has spillover effects on other actions. Rules beget more rules and only the rules lawyer is the winner. It’s under the impression that any bad action is irreversible when the truth is that most times it can be undone. It may take some effort, but it is worth it compared to stifling an entire process, movement, or individual.

Unless I’m much mistaken, I think the thing about ALA’s Emerging Leaders program is that it is designed to turn out ALA leaders, not librarianship leaders.

Now it may or may not be successful at that, but I really don’t care too much, since I don’t have anything invested in ALA. But I think it’s a mistake to look to Emerging Leaders as a source of leadership in the profession, as opposed to the Association.

Amen to that! Anyone who can’t understand that the terms “old/young/new/old/freaking ancient” are in play here as tags for personality descriptions and lenses through which people view the world, and instead thinks that it has something to do with their actual -show me your driver’s license – age is just proving themselves to be irrelevant to the conversation, and, in actuality, calling themselves out as a part of the problem set being discussed.
Perhaps the reason not much gets done when you approach an argument from that perspective is in living with the impetus to define every little detail as opposed to viewing from the problem as a whole, part and parcel of the issues being called out.
As for the ACTUAL POINT – I agree with Kate and Jenica, as well as with Andy in the idiocy of ALA discussing anything in the realm of wars/religion/gender unless it is generated FROM a library mission-oriented concern/action. Just because something impacts me as a person in the comfort of my own home does not mean it is directly tied to my PROFESSION – stop wasting money and get back to library basics!

I’m 40 but I started my first-ever library job (any level) in 2006 so I always assume I fall under the heading of young librarians, next gen, etc. The semantics don’t seem like a useful thing to be hung up on (although it is a very librarian thing to be hung up on, I’m noticing). It would be interesting to see examples of when and why various librarians’ self-perceptions changed from newbie to veteran.

The jobs rants have really faded away from at least the listservs that I read. The decline coincided with the overall economic crash, so perhaps it’s a change in perspective.

I agree completely with the usefulness of an increased focus on the public administration side of an MLS education, but that does seem to be the opposite of what accreditation and rankings are interested in. My program provided all sorts of practical experience and vocational guidance and had the ‘tools’ courses taught by people who were currently employed in those areas (cataloging, collection development, academic reference, etc.) instead of tenured faculty. That last part is also really handy for networking too. But all of that seems to lead to the program being looked down upon as academically deficient. Which is technically true but I think I came out ahead in terms of professional preparation by neglecting the theoretical in favor of the day-to-day. And I had a job offer before I graduated (yes, a significant move was required). I’ll never be considered for an academic tenure track position, but that’s fine.

Rather than saying all programs should change focus, however, I think it would make more sense to allow a wider variety of programs. One constant challenge in our classes was that every student had very strong opinions about what they were and were not supposed to get out of a graduate level program (and when paying graduate level tuition, of course) and naturally they all contradicted one another. Now that so many students are moving to online learning, it seems a good opportunity to consider different specializations.

I also think we need to get away from the young and old debate, its exhausting and I’m over it. Its about institutionalization. Some folks are institutionalized after a week, some after 25 years, some fight the system the whole time. I think people are frustrated with institutionalization of librarianship and its really a battle between folks who want change to the system and folks who want a paycheck.

I for one am glad that the debate on old versus young was had (and is now over). It definitely helped me to see that it really is new versus institutionalized (well put) rather than about the numbers. And that is hugely encouraging to a new, older librarian who definitely wants to change the system.

I really enjoyed your post Andy. I think you have good points and it is great to define what the “young Turks” (an ALA moniker that defines years in the profession, which might help this age issue everyone is stumbling upon) are talking about.

I think library students need to take more initiative in planning for their future. When I was getting my MLS, the school required at least six units outside of the school, it didn’t matter where. I worked towards a certificate in Public Administration from another college that worked perfectly for my future plans.

Maybe that should be a requirement, or maybe students need to think about taking classes that directly affect their future. (Admin-take those classes, tech-take those classes, library school isn’t equipped to offer that or offer it well, there are many schools in a college that can, weave it all together).

Libraries in general are more of a confederation when it comes to leadership. In smaller circles, there are leaders, but nothing nationally (with some exception, Nancy Pearl is known outside of the profession, for example, and that may be more what you are getting at in regards to leadership). Much of the leadership preparation from ALA is through LLAMA or more academic circles in my opinion. There are great leadership programs being offered, I am not sure about their impact.

And no the Emerging Leaders program, while a step in the right direction, is certainly no panacea. At best it’s one small, imperfect part of a solution to a large and complex problem.

For my part, I’m investing my time and energy to make it a little less imperfect. A frustrating endeavor more often than not, but no one said change was going to be easy.

I know I’m preaching to the choir (mostly) but people, this change thing, this transformational thing, this revolution thing… it’s a slog, not a skip through the daisies. It’s a marathon, not a leisurely stroll. And if you don’t have the energy for it, no harm no foul. Go, and peace be with you. But if you want to make a difference, roll up your sleeves and put on your dancin’ shoes. Just understand, this ain’t a waltz, it’s a mosh pit.

The problem with MLS programs is that they don’t deserve the “M” portion of the acronym.

Library Masters degrees are no more complex or challenging than basic undergraduate majors. The basic library degree SHOULD be an undergraduate major, in fact, with the Masters programs devoted to more difficult fields of specialization (management, IT, etc.).

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